What the hell is up with that?

I had the best bean soup in my life today.  It’s not that it was the greatest tasting soup I’ve ever had.  It was that it was the first hot, non-restaurant meal I’ve had in three months.  Jenny and her husband made the soup and some potatos.  It was so good.  I was just sitting there checking my email by the beach and she started talking to me.  She asked me if I wanted any and that was it.  I’m used to one meal a day.  This was an extra special treat.  My treats only include peanut butter and cranberry sauce eaten out of the container.  it’s pretty good though when your hungry.  I do get one meal when I work but I am trying to be as simple as possible.  I will probably get some oatmeal though for breakfast.  It’s sticks to the ribs.  If I keep this up I will look like a starving Ethiopian.  Just kidding.  Life is good. 

So this week has been very lucrative for me.  I found a new charcoal grill in the trash at the beach, a bunch of clothes for work at the thrift store and a surfboard at the end of the beach.  All free!  The board is a little thrashed but I can at least learn to paddle my ass off with it.  It will do until I can get a long board. 

So I Thought I would share some more pics with all of you.  Without any further delay. 

This is Nate 6000.  He’s from Baltimore.  He enjoys sleeping on the beach, wrestling with Marty and telling people to "Step Off".  He’s a trip.  He’s a good kid too.  Completely harmless.

This is Lloyd.  He’s making a really interesting face just so you know.  He’s from Chicago.  Another good kid.  He enjoys making Didgeridoos, drinking sparks and laughing at 6000.  He’s left us for a stint.  Off to the Rainbow Gathering.  He’ll be back.  Ahhhhhh!

Marty here straight out of Oregon.  Last name Hardman. Funny enough.  He’s the caretaker of the group.  He keeps the undesirables at bay.  He’s a really cool cat though.  Harmless unless provoked.  He’s a pussy cat.  He enjoys fishing, drinking beer and driving a different car each week.  Hustler!

This is Opualani.  She’s married to Brad and has like a dozen kids.  (No Joke)  She comes from a family of 16 herself.  She works 2 or 3 jobs, is pregnant and lives at Anini with the rest of us.  She’s a sweetheart but don’t cross her or wake her up. 

This is me cheesing and not realizing it.  I enjoy long walks on the beach, candle light dinners and lots of cheeeeeeeeeeeze!!!  Doesn’t it look like such an elimidate pic.  That’s awful. 

That’s it for now.

Later

So I got that hot shower last night.  I also got to watch a movie and sleep in a house.  I gotta get me one of them.  It was a concrete floor but it was the best nights sleep I’ve gotten in months.  The hot shower thing was nice too.  I got all them pores clean.  We all hung out at Kira’s for my buddy Lloyds last night on the island.  He’s headed to Denver tonight for the Rainbow gathering nationals or something to that nature.  Then he heads back to Shy town.  He says he’s coming back in a couple of months but with everything you take it with a grain of salt and pretend that he’s not coming back.  That way it’s easier when they don’t.  He’s probably my best camp mate.  I’ll miss having him around.

So this house I stayed in last night has two rooms coming up in August.  I think I might treat myself for my birthday.  I need to get off the beach for a little while.  A bit of a sabbatical if you will.  I like it and I will still camp out here and there but the scene is getting old.  I think I can handle about another month and then I am outty.  Ahhh, but you know me, I may change my mind.  You really don’t know what you have until it’s gone.  Wasn’t that a lyric from some song?  It’s the truth though. 

Aloha

So I may get my first hot shower today in almost a month.  I’ve been taking cold outdoor showers and getting clean but not like that hot shower clean.  I can’t wait.  I may even get to watch a little tv, cook in a real kitchen and sit on real furniture.  I am salivating at the idea of all this.  Mainly just the hot shower part.

Work has been crazy the past few days.  I am worn out from lack of sleep and work.  I get off late on the weekends and then head back to camp.  I fall asleep around 1 am.  I am then woken up by my camp mates at the crack ass of dawn.  I then lay in a mild slumber for another hour until finally giving up on sleep.  I need a few days of rest in a comfy bed with no one else in sight.  I think I will get a room at the Hanalei Inn in a month or so and take advantage of a hot shower and comfy bed for a night or two.  That would recharge me. 

It’s ruff being homeless sometimes.  By no means am I complaining.  I would rather be homeless here than in the Tenderloin of San Fran.  After all, it’s my choice.  I am learning a lot about life and what things are important to me.  I don’t know where this wave is taking me but the ride is pretty interesting and fun.

Speaking of waves…my boss has been surfing for 40 something years.  He’s an avid surfer obviously.  So he’s gonna take me to the swap meet in Hanalei this month and show me around.  Basically all the surfers show up and buy/sell/trade their boards.  I am looking to get a long board.  The waves here are insane.  That’s why I will be at Pinetrees.  It’s a surf spot for the surfing challenged. 

You see it goes a little something like this.  Coral: a beautiful yet painlfull piece of life.  Hawaian waves: very large, very powerful, very beautiful and respected by all islanders.  Waves tumble you and try to chew you up and spit you out.  In the midst of the tumble you run the risk of catching the coral.  This equals pain.  And if you are unlucky enough to get churned into the coral, then you are probably going to return to shore with a nice big thorn from a see urchin.  That’s a whole other story.  Anyway, point being, I will be at the Pines where there’s sand and a bunch of beginners.

I’ll take pictures when the winter swells begin.  You won’t believe how big they get.  People get towed in by a jet ski and ride these massive swells.  I am talking fourty feet high and a little surfer ripping down the face of the wave.  It’s absolute insanity if you ask me.  A healthy insanity though. 

Well folks that’s all for today.  I’ll be in touch.  I miss all of you terribly.  I can’t wait to see all of you at the holidays. 

Mahalo Nui Loa

HA!!!

This will take a while….Anyway, here are some pics of the island.  Also, in case any of you forgot what I look like, there’s one of me too.  I love you guys.

Malama Pono!

This was the room I stayed in the first night I got to the Island.

This is where I reside.

This is my kitchen/fire place.

This was me about a month ago in Santa Cruz.  About a week before I decided to skip town to Hawaii.

Me today with a fresh head of hair.  Gonna get burnt though when I go snorkeling later.

A lizard we found in the camp.  Chill little fella.

Dude, it’s a flower.  Need I say more?

Landscape coming back from Kapaa.

Roasted coconuts are soooooo good.  Everyone must try the roasted coconuts.

The new ride.  535 step off!

Sunrise and the chickens go crazy…don’t romanticize it.  It gets old quick.

Well that’s it for pics right now.  I want to get an underwater camera for when I snorkel.  The other day my friend loyd and I went snorkeling at tunnels.  We swam with sea turtles.  Saw so many cool fish and even encountered an eel.  It was was intense to be that close to turtles.  You can ride their shells.  I didn’t though.  I tried to respect their dinner time.  It was cool enough being that close.  Gotta score a boat now.  I am looking around for a kayak.  I won’t be able to get one for another couple of months but I am keeping my eyes out for a free one.  A free one you say?  Yes.  People leave this island everyday and they give stuff away.  Surfboards, boogie boards, food, camping gear, boats, cars, clothes, electronics, dive gear.  You name it.  Have enough patience and you will get the things you want for free. 

Anyway, I am off to the north shore for a little R and R.  It’s my day off and I work the next 4 straight so it’s water time. 

Mahalo

Updates from the Hauli.  That’s me…the whitey on the island.  I am the minority and it is made known.  It’s cool though.  I’ve got some local Ohana (family) that takes care of me.  By that I mean that I don’t get shit from the locals.  They leave me alone because I’m friends with those locals.  It’s a respect thing.  One thing you don’t want to do is piss one of them off though.  Forgiveness is an beating or they throw your car keys in the nearest body of water.  I just mind my business and remember not to honk my horn at a local if they pull out in front of you.  I love this island though. 

So I am a "chef" at a local Princeville restaurant.  I love my job.  It’s robotic and time flys.  It works for now and my boss rocks.  He’s a surfer and he’s totally buddhist chill.  A good Christian Hauli.  The people i’ve met are awesome.  They all have these really intense stories about what brought them to the island.  I could seriously write a book about this place.  News travels fast.  You think Asheville is small.   Try living on an island that is 530 sqaure mile but most of the people live in only about 35 sq miles of each other.  You poop and by the time you wipe the other side of the island is hearing all the details.  It’s great in a way though.  It’s like one big Ohana.

Well, this is my day off and I am going spear fishing and snorkeling. 

Mahalo

All I can say is WOW.  I love this place.  Anything you need or ever wanted is right here.  So I’ll update the past couple of days.

Arrived on Thursday 3:30 pm…sick with a head/chest cold…Ate dinner and crashed.

Thursday morning 6 am…woke up and head was clear but chest full of crap.  OK though cause I can breath now and I’m not feeling as though I could die anymore.  Pack my bag and head north from Kaapa town.  End up near Kilauea camping on Anini beach.  Snorkel, go to lunch, buy a car for very very cheap.  Go to sleep about 9. 

Friday…wake up 6 am pack up gear and head farther north.  Go to the market and grab fruit and phone numbers for barter work trade.  Head back to camp meet up with some locals living on the beach and learn a lot about the island.  Start finding pupa shells.  (these shells you sell for 100 bucks per film canister which you can find in about and hour or so)  Start carving coral that has washed up and making necklaces and bracelets.  Hang out and swim.  Snorkel a bit.  Ate and went to bed.

Saturday: hung out on the beach with out new friends that have been showing us around.  That’s about it.

Sunday: Got a tour of the island from Marty from Oregon. (a fellow beach rat—That’s what the beach squatters are called.)  He’s gonna teach me to spear fish and he’s been teaching me about where to get free food and flowers and shells that are worth tons of money.  Also met a few others that are really nice and watch out for us (not like you really need to be watched out for here…everyone is pretty damn friendly).  Got the Info on where to and not to put your stuff.  The DL on the island Centipedes that are the size of a loaf of bread….stay away from them!  Spiders that are about the size of a rat and fast…very very fast.  Neither of the latter are easy to kill either.  I’ve seen the marks from the centipede bight.  looks like a snake bite. 

There is a lot about this island that I won’t put in this blog because you just have to come here to find out about it.  It’s nothing secret, it’s just more interesting to experience it than hear about it.  The island will provide everything you need.  People barter like crazy here.  It’s amazing.  You will never go hungry and the community will take care of you if you are ever in need of anything.  You’re car breaks down, someones there to help you and you never even asked.  It’s amazing.

I’m gonna go fishing now and try to score some lobster maybe later.  Oh yeah, watch out for the Samoan crab….he’s a big, angry, monster in size crab cake waiting to happen. 

Aloha

AKA- Hell…I am sitting in the Oakland International Airport.  I am heading to Hawaii tomorrow morning.  In an attempt to save money we’ve decided to just stick it out in the lobby areas.  I am functioning on about 5 hours of not so great sleep.  I have a head cold.  But the most important thing is….I will be sitting on a white sand beach tomorrow.  I wouldn’t do this for any other reason.

The great thing about airports is you will always know what time it is.  A constant reminder pasted on the wall.  Only ten more hours to go.  Ten more hours to wait.  I can’t imagine what it would be like to be stuck in an airport for days, weeks or even months.  It’s kinda like Vegas but without all the fun stuff.

Bright obnoxious lights, screaming kids that shouldn’t be awake at this hour, food that is way too expensive and way not good, people everywhere coming and going, languages from all around the world singing gently in the air.  The low hum of voices and machines combined are all too conducive to being kept awake.  Not to mention that screaming alarm clock…I mean kid.  I have a few ideas to make airport stays much more pleasant.

A:  Put a movie theatre in.  Of course that would mean being charged $25 for a 2 hour film.  But it would also offer a place to kill time and sleep even.  "No Children Aloud" would be posted on the entry.  Soda and popcorn would be outrageously priced, but all in the name of entertainment.

B:  Manufacture a "sleep" area.  Perhaps small rooms much like those found on a train sleeping car where people can crash out.  Hell a six foot by three foot cube would suffice.  Sound tight, light tight, and more importantly child proof.  Charge for it is your wish. I would pay two dollars an hour to sleep right now and get away from the little people.  (I know, but I won’t pay for a hotel room…I do refuse to pay eighty dollars for 6 hours of use.)

C:  Put a casino in the very center.  If you’re gonna feel like your in a time lapse, then give us entertainment.  Let me play some poker or make more money off of me. 

D:  Just get rid of the kids.  That would probably take care of most of the problem.  They’re everywhere.  Better yet build a gigantic playroom that is sound proof and let them loose in it.  I think everyone would be a happy camper then. 

That sums up my suggestion card.  Now to sum up the rest (why I am going to Hawaii).  Because I can.  I am this close and don’t really have anything better to do.  I think not trying to live there would be a little silly at this juncture in my life.  (Please give the kid some damn milk or a friggin bot bot!)  Anyway, life is short.  Git r done.

So I am aware of my absence on the net.  I have been running around.  I got transferred to Santa Cruz…yes, I moved again.  Got a place today that I move into next week.  It’s two blocks from the beach and boardwalk.  (for those of you that have seen "The lost Boys", it’s the same boardwalk you see in the movie when they are at the Roller coaster place by the ocean.)  It’s 3 blocks from world class surf spots.  Everyday there are about 5 dozen surfers bobbing in the waves.  I will soon be one of them.  The girls I am moving in with are really cool.  They are chill and like to knit apparently. 

I am walking about 5 miles a day and my pants size is showing it.  My pants are starting to eat my butt as apposed to my butt eating them.  The whole vegetarian thing is still working out.  I feel a lot healthier too.  I feel guilty when I am in a car.  I actually have come to hate riding in them.  I am in the process of finding a cheap bike.  Thinking about taking up skateboarding and absolutely going to learn to surf.  My friend Denise is gonna teach me.  She’s an old school surfer.  She knows the gig pretty well. 

The job is a job.  I am looking for something different though.  I am just not happy with what I am doing.  It’s just too emotionally difficult for me at this time.  But for now it’s money.  It’s getting hot but the water is steps away.  The breeze is nice and the people are great.  Just a surf town.  I think I am going back to school in the fall. 

So there you have it.  I am still alive and kicking.  Tanning nicely with the Chaco strapped feet. 

This one’s for Mom:  Things I need you to send cause I am poor….

Sunscreen—-for face and body
Stamps—-for mailing letters!
Pens——for writing those letters!!
Toothbrush—to keep up the thousands of dollars you spent!!!
Pictures—-So I can post them in my room!!!
Unscented Lotion—Cause my skin is dry!!
Love—-Cause I miss you!!!!

Everyone take care and I’ll be talkin to ya.

Peace/Namaste/Much Love

So I am officially a Greenpeace employee.  I never thought I would add activist to the resume.  It doesn’t stop there.  Oh no, you know me.  When I do something I tend to be a little hardcore about it.  I have an interview with Clean Water Action tomorrow.  Which means that I have the job.  It will be the secondary.  To fill the gaps of the weekend, in an attempt to make the most money possible while I can, I am trying to get in with a democratic grassroots campaign for the midterms.  I think I will be dead by X-mas, figuratively speaking.